 |
|
     |
|
|
|
Michael D. Hurley has a fine review of Nicholas Boyle's Sacred and Secular Scriptures: A Catholic Approach to Literature in the Feb 11 issue of TLS. While Boyle contests the efforts of Herder and Schleiermacher to reduce "Word to word," he still emphasizes the continuity between the Bible and other literature. Literature is for Boyle inherently a "site of theology," since "literature, biblical and nonbiblical, is a place where sacred and secular meet." All written work is at the "sacred end of the phenomenological spectrum of literature," while orality is at the secular end. Boyle suggests that all secular moralistic writing "reaches for the kerygmatic injunction beyond the text - for the original instruction, 'Thou shalt.'" Applying this to Mansfield Park, Boyle suggests that "the 'principle' that marks Fanny's resistance to the temptation represented by the intrusion of the Crawfords into Mansfield Park, cannot be adequately accounted for by Austen. It is not possible to disengage this 'principle' from the tangle of human motives and represent it in its pure state. The Church is therefore made the central theme in the book, as the transcendent 'principle' 'made visible,' that is, 'given a name and a face, embodied in a particular time and place and social context.'"
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Wednesday, March 09, 2005 at 10:50 AM
Permission is given to use material on this site, provided the source is cited, blog entries are republished in full, and the author is notified in advance.
1 & 2 Kings
Brazos Theological Commentary
The Promise Of His Appearing: An Exposition Of Second Peter
A Great Mystery: Fourteen Wedding Sermons
Deep Comedy: Trinity, Tragedy, And Hope In Western Literature
Miniatures & Morals: The Christian Novels of Jane Austen
The Priesthood of the Plebs: A Theology of Baptism
A Son To Me: An Exposition of 1 & 2 Samuel
From Silence to Song: The Davidic Liturgical Revolution
Ascent to Love: A Guide to Dante's Divine Comedy
Blessed Are the Hungry: Meditations on the Lord's Supper
A House For My Name: A Survey of the Old Testament
Heroes of the City of Man: A Christian Guide to Select Ancient Literature
Brightest Heaven of Invention: A Christian Guide To Six Shakespeare Plays
Wise Words: Family Stories That Bring the Proverbs to Life
The Kingdom and the Power: Rediscovering the Centrality of the Church
